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MPs launch survey on body image and mental health

A survey looking at the effect of body image on physical and mental health has been launched by MPs in England.

It also asks whether people have used the NHS to deal with body image issues and how successful services have been.

The Health and Social Care Committee will use the survey as part of its ongoing inquiry into the impact of body image.

The committee will hold another parliamentary evidence session on Tuesday. This session will hear from doctors, researchers and people with Body Dysmorphic Disorder.

Questions in the survey cover a range of topics, including whether thoughts and feelings on body image negatively impact quality of life, and which aspects of life are affected the most.

Jeremy Hunt, chairman of the Health and Social Care Committee, said: "Worries about body image can become enormously distressing, particularly for young people.

"To support our inquiry into body image, we're asking people to take part in a survey about how concerns about body image can affect their physical and mental health," he added.

"We want to hear about their experiences of accessing NHS services in relation to body image, whether people know where to go to get help, and whether they feel any stigma in seeking support for health issues relating to body image."

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Source: BBC News, 25 April 2022

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Government progress against commitments made on workforce to be evaluated

The Health and Social Care Committee examines the Government’s progress against its pledges on the health and social care workforce and will be the focus of a new independent evaluation by the Health and Social Care Committee’s Expert Panel.

Professor Dame Jane Dacre, Chair of the Expert Panel, said:

“We’ll be looking at commitments the Government has made on workforce – the people who deliver the health and social care services we rely on.

“We’ve identified a recurrent theme in our evaluations to date – whether in maternity, cancer or mental health services, progress is dependent on having the right number of skilled staff in the right place at the right time. Shortages have a real impact on the delivery of services and undermine achievements.

“Our panel of experts will evaluate progress made to meet policy pledges in this crucial area - whether it’s about getting workforce planning right, training, or ensuring staff well-being.”

The Expert Panel will focus on three areas:

  • Planning for the workforce – including how targets are set, recruitment, and retention.
  • Building a skilled workforce – including incorporating technology and professional development of staff.
  • Wellbeing at work – including support services for staff, and reducing bullying rates.

Four specialists have been appointed for this evaluation, bringing their subject specific expertise and experience. They will work alongside the core members of the Expert Panel in identifying a set of Government commitments on workforce and evaluate progress made against them.

The findings will support the work of the Health and Social Care Committee which is carrying out a separate inquiry: Workforce: recruitment, training and retention in health and social care.

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Source: UK Parliament, 20 April 2022

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Make publishing NHS workforce planning forecasts a legal duty

Despite workforce being the biggest challenge facing the health service, the Health and Care Bill provides no clarity on the numbers of staff this country needs, says Andrew Goddard in a HSJ article.

The Health and Care Bill returned to the Commons this week – as did the question of workforce planning. At the end of the spring term, MPs voted to reject an amendment to the bill which would have required the secretary of state to publish independent assessments of current and future workforce numbers every few years.

The following week, the House of Lords – led by Baroness Cumberlege, with support from Baroness Harding, Lord Stevens of Birmingham and other cross-party peers – voted to put a revised version of the amendment back in.

This particular game of ping pong about how we should plan the NHS and social care workforce is an important one. Workforce is not only a blindspot in the bill – it is a blindspot in the government’s ambitions for health and care.

A lack of staff risks undermining the true potential of the Health and Social Care Levy because there will be too few staff to carry out the additional checks and diagnostic procedures promised. The new diagnostic hubs are to be staffed with existing NHS colleagues.

Workforce shortages hampered our response to the pandemic and are already having a significant impact on our response to the backlog. They were also identified in the Ockenden Report as a driving factor in the avoidable deaths of 201 babies.

It is concerning then, that despite workforce being the biggest challenge facing the health service, the Health and Care Bill provides no clarity on the numbers of staff this country needs.

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Source: HSJ, 22 April 2022

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Pandemic disrupted routine vaccinations of US kindergarteners

Yet another hidden cost of Covid-19 was revealed on Thursday as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention presented new data showing how the pandemic has dramatically impeded the US effort to vaccinate kids for other diseases.

According to the CDC’s report, national vaccine coverage among American children in kindergarten dropped from 95% to below 94% in the past year – which may seem like a small amount but meant 350,000 fewer children were vaccinated against common diseases.

“Overall, today’s findings support previous data showing a concerning decline in childhood immunizations that began in March 2020,” Shannon Stokley, the CDC’s immunization services deputy division director, said in a press conference on Thursday.

Some of the reasons for the lower vaccination rates included reluctance to schedule appointments, reduced access to them, so-called “provisional” school enrollment, the easing of vaccination requirements for remote learners, fewer parents submitting documents and less time for school nurses to follow up with unvaccinated students.

States and schools also told the CDC that there were fewer staff members to assess kindergarten vaccination coverage, and a lower response rate from schools, both due to Covid-19.

“The CDC provides vaccines for nearly half of America’s children through the Vaccines for Children program,” Stokley said. “And over the last two years, orders for distribution of routine vaccines are down more than 10% compared to before the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We are concerned that missed routine vaccinations could leave children vulnerable to preventable diseases like measles and whooping cough which are extremely dangerous and can be very serious, especially for babies and young children.”

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Source: The Guardian, 21 April 2022

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Nearly half of those recovering from coronavirus infection endure ‘long Covid’ symptoms, study finds

An analysis of data from 50 studies looking at 1.6 million people suggests that as much as 43% of those infected with the coronavirus experienced post-Covid conditions, pointing to the need for better diagnosis and care for “long Covid” patients.

Post-Covid conditions are clinically defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as mid- and long-term symptoms – also known as Long Covid – occurring in individuals after infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

The research, published this week in the Journal of Infectious Disease, assessed 23 symptoms reported across 36 of the studies and found that shortness of breath, sleep problems, and joint pain was widely reported by those who had recovered from the novel coronavirus infection.

Researchers say fatigue (23%) and memory problems (14%) were the most common symptoms of individuals experiencing post-Covid conditions.

While about 34% of non-hospitalised coronavirus patients report lingering post-Covid symptoms, scientists say this rate jumps to over 50% for hospitalised Covid patients.

“Long Covid is quite common overall and across geographic regions, sex and acute COVID-19 severity. Knowing this, providers should take proactive approaches such that their patients are well-supported when experiencing long-term health effects of Covid-19,” scientists wrote in the study.

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Source: The Independent, 21 April 2022

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Women struggling to ‘sleep and work competently’ amid England’s HRT shortages

Women are being left unable to sleep or work competently because of the shortages of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) products used to treat symptoms of the menopause, the former cabinet minister, Caroline Nokes, has said.

Millions of women go through the menopause every year, with many experiencing symptoms that can be severe, such as low mood, anxiety, hot flushes and difficulty sleeping, and have a negative impact on everyday life. The number of prescriptions for HRT in England has doubled in the last five years to more than 500,000 a month.

But the rise in prescriptions has come amid several years of HRT shortages, with pharmacists often unable to fulfil prescriptions. Shortages have been blamed on manufacturing and supply issues, and have been exacerbated by the growing numbers of women seeking the products.

Speaking in the Commons on Thursday, Nokes, chair of the women and equalities committee, called for an urgent debate on the issue to ensure women “can get the supplies that we need”.

In October, the government announced that the cost of repeat prescriptions for HRT would be significantly reduced in England.

In the Commons on Thursday, Labour MP Nick Smith asked Spencer why there was “no date yet for the HRT prescription changes in England”. Spencer said it was “something the health secretary is looking at, at this moment in time”.

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Source: The Guardian, 21 April 2022

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NHS set to miss key targets in fight against antibiotic-resistant infections

The NHS is falling behind in the race to tackle antibiotic-resistant infections, with the service set to miss two key targets. 

As part of the government’s 2019 five-year-action plan to tackle the growth in antimicrobial resistance (AMR), the NHS was set the target of reducing the number of healthcare-associated bloodstream infections of three gram-negative bacteria by 25% by March this year, and 50% by the end of March 2024.

Infections caused by E. coli, pseudomonas aeruginosa and klebsiella can cause urine or wound infection, blood poisoning or pneumonia. The AMR action plan said: “In the UK, the biggest drivers of resistance [include] a rise in the incidence of infections, particularly gram-negatives.”

Last week, health and social care secretary Sajd Javid stressed the continuing importance of the issue, stating that antimicrobial resistance is “one of the biggest health threats facing the world”.

Analysis by HSJ has shown there has been only a small decline in the numbers of cases involving the three bacteria since monitoring started. The baseline for measuring the reduction was 2016-17, when there were 23,037 healthcare associated infections related to the bacteria.

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Source: HSJ, 21 April 2022

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Study reveals clues to cancer causes and potential for personalised treatment

Analysis of thousands of tumours has unveiled a treasure trove of clues about the causes of cancer, representing a significant step towards the personalisation of treatment, a study suggests.

Researchers say that for the first time it is possible to detect patterns – called mutational signatures – in the DNA of cancers.

These provide clues including about whether a patient has had past exposure to environmental causes of cancer such as smoking or UV light, for example.

This is important as these signatures allow doctors to look at each patient’s tumour and match it to specific treatments and medications.

Dr Andrea Degasperi, research associate at the University of Cambridge and first author, said: “Whole genome sequencing gives us a total picture of all the mutations that have contributed to each person’s cancer.

“With thousands of mutations per cancer, we have unprecedented power to look for commonalities and differences across NHS patients, and in doing so we uncovered 58 new mutational signatures and broadened our knowledge of cancer.”

The findings are now being incorporated into the NHS as researchers and clinicians now have the use of a digital tool called FitMS that will help them identify the mutational signature and potentially inform cancer management more effectively.

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Source: The Independent, 21 April 2022

You may also be interested to read hub blog: Genetic profiling and precision medicine – the future of cancer treatment

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York eating disorder clinic served unsafe food

A hospital for adults with eating disorders has been rated inadequate after inspectors found the provision of food was "unsafe and unacceptable".

A Care Quality Commission (CQC) report of the Schoen Clinic in York said some patients were given mouldy bread and one was served food containing plastic.

Concerns were also raised around lack of staff and patient safety, though wards were clean and well-equipped.

Schoen Clinic Group said issues raised in the report "were quickly addressed".

Following the inspection in January the hospital has been placed in special measures and will be visited again in six months.

Brian Cranna, CQC's head of hospital inspection, said: "The standards of care we found at Schoen Clinic York were putting patients at risk and so we have taken urgent enforcement action, which means the service must improve if it's to retain its registration."

According to the report patients were put at risk of "physical and psychological harm due to unsafe and unacceptable food provision".

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Source: BBC News, 21 April 2022

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FDA considers new approach to improve safe disposal of prescription opioid analgesics and decrease unnecessary exposure to unused medication

the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced it is seeking public comment on a potential change that would require opioid analgesics used in outpatient settings to be dispensed with prepaid mail-back envelopes and that pharmacists provide patient education on safe disposal of opioids. This potential modification to the existing Opioid Analgesic Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy would provide a convenient, additional disposal option for patients beyond those already available such as flushing, commercially available in-home disposal products, collection kiosks and takeback events.

Patients commonly report having unused opioid analgesics following surgical procedures, thereby creating unfortunate opportunities for nonmedical use, accidental exposure, overdose and potentially increasing new cases of opioid addiction. Since many Americans gain access to opioids for the first time through friends or relatives who have unused opioids, requiring a mail-back envelope be provided with each prescription could reduce the amount of unused opioid analgesics in patients' homes. Data show educating patients about disposal options may increase the disposal rate of unused opioids and that providing a disposal option along with education could further increase that rate.

Mail-back envelopes have several favorable characteristics. They do not require patients to mix medications with water, chemicals or other substances nor use other common at-home disposal techniques. Opioid analgesics sent back to Drug Enforcement Administration-registered facilities in mail-back envelopes do not enter the water supply and landfills (instead, they are incinerated). The nondescript mail-back envelopes provided would be postage paid, offering patients a free disposal option. Additionally, there are long-standing regulations and policies in place to ensure that mail-back envelopes are fit for that purpose and can safely and securely transport unused medicines from the patient's home to the location where they will be destroyed.

"The FDA is committed to addressing the opioid crisis on all fronts, including exploring new approaches that have the potential to decrease unnecessary exposure to opioids and prevent new cases of addiction. Prescribing opioids for durations and doses that do not properly match the clinical needs of the patient not only increases the chances for misuse, abuse and overdose, but it also increases the likelihood of unnecessary exposure to unused medications," said FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf, M.D. "As we explore ways to further address this issue more broadly, the mail-back envelope requirement under consideration for these unused medications would complement current disposal programs and provide meaningful and attainable steps to improve the safe use and disposal."

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Source: Cision, 20 April 2020

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Healthcare worker catches Covid twice in less than three weeks

A healthcare worker caught Covid on two separate occasions over the course of just 20 days, a new study has shown.

It is believed to be the shortest recorded time between two infections since the start of the pandemic. Since the arrival of the highly infectious Omicron variant, reinfections have become far more prominent.

The 31-year-old woman from Spain first became infected with Delta in December 2021 – 12 days after she had received her Covid booster vaccine.

Lab analysis showed that she had initially been infected by the Delta variant, followed by Omicron.

Her case, which is being presented to the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in Portugal, is believed to represent the shortest recorded time between two separate infections.

Dr Gemma Recio of the Institut Catala de la Salut in Spain, who is one of the study’s authors, said: “This case highlights the potential of the Omicron variant to evade the previous immunity acquired either from a natural infection with other variants or from vaccines".

“In other words, people who have had Covid-19 cannot assume they are protected against reinfection, even if they have been fully vaccinated."

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Source: The Independent, 21 April 2022

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Woman waits six hours for ambulance after fall on her 100th birthday

A woman has described how she spent more than six hours of her 100th birthday waiting in agony for an ambulance after slipping and fracturing her pelvis while getting ready for a family lunch.

Irene Silsby was due to be picked up by her niece, Lynne Taylor, for a celebration to mark her centenary on 9 April. But she fell in the windowless bathroom of her care home in Greetham, Rutland, and staff called an ambulance at 9am after she managed to summon help.

“All I remember is I was in terrible pain,” said Silsby from her hospital bed on Saturday. When asked of the ambulance delay, she said: “It’s disgusting. I don’t know how I stood it so long, the pain was so severe.”

Taylor expected to meet the ambulance as she arrived 45 minutes later. But when she reached the care home, the manager said it would be a 10-hour wait, she said.

What was to be her aunt’s first trip outside the care home in more than five months turned into her lying on a cold floor surrounded by pillows and blankets to keep her warm and quell some of the discomfort.

Taylor, 60, recalled her aunt saying: “They’re not coming to me because they know I’m 100 and I’m not really worth it any more.”

Taylor said she had never felt so scared, frustrated and worried. After calling 999 and expressing her outrage, she was told that life-threatening conditions were being prioritised.

“I thought she was going to die,” she said. “I didn’t think that any frail, tiny, 100-year-old body could put up with that level of pain on the floor.”

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Source: The Guardian, 20 April 2022

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Father calls for overhaul of 'flawed' suicide assessments

A father whose son took his own life in July 2020 is calling for an "urgent overhaul" of the way some counsellors and therapists assess suicide risk.

His son Tom had died a day after being judged "low risk", in a final counselling session, Philip Pirie said.

A group of charities has written to the health secretary, saying the use of a checklist-type questionnaire to predict suicide risk is "fundamentally flawed".

The government says it is now drawing up a new suicide-prevention strategy.

According to the latest official data, 6,211 people in the UK killed themselves in 2020. It is the most common cause of death in 20-34-year-olds.

And of the 17 people each day, on average, who kill themselves, five are in touch with mental health services and four of those five are assessed as "low" or "no risk", campaigners say.

Tom Pirie, a young teacher from Fulham, west London, had been receiving help for mental-health issues.

He had repeatedly told counsellors about his suicidal thoughts - but the day before he had killed himself, a psychotherapist had judged him low risk, his father said.

Tom's assessment had been based on "inadequate" questionnaires widely used despite guidelines saying they should not be to predict suicidal behaviour, Philip said.

The checklists, which differ depending on the clinicians and NHS trusts involved, typically ask patients questions about their mental health, such as "Do you have suicidal thoughts?" or "Do you have suicidal intentions?"

At the end of the session, a score can be generated - placing the individual at low, medium or high risk of suicide, or rating the danger on a scale between 1 and 10.

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Source: BBC News, 20 April 2022

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NHS waiting lists drive more Britons to pay for medical treatment

Growing numbers of patients in the UK are paying for private medical treatment because of the record delays people are facing trying to access NHS care, a report has revealed.

They are using their own savings to pay for procedures that involve some of the longest waiting times in NHS hospital, such as diagnostic tests, cataract removals and joint replacements.

The increase in the willingness to self-pay is closely linked to a desire for private treatments that was increasing even before Covid struck in March 2020. But many private hospitals were unable to meet that demand for much of the pandemic because coronavirus disrupted so much normal healthcare.

Dr Tony O’Sullivan, an ex-NHS consultant and a co-chair of the campaign group Keep Our NHS Public, said: “The government’s deliberate and sustained running down of the health service has resulted in a two-tier system. The NHS is now in a permanent state of distress, leaving patients desperate for care, and – if they can afford it – feeling as if they have no choice but to go private, undermining the very vision of equality and care a well-funded NHS was so famous for.

“Hard-working people would not need to line shareholders pockets in this way if the NHS had not been underfunded, understaffed and neglected for so long.”

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Source: The Guardian, 20 April 2022

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Scotland's SNP has lost track of patients who fall off NHS waiting list, says watchdog

Patients who have “lost hope” of ever seeing a doctor are falling off NHS waiting lists due to poor record-keeping by the SNP government, Scotland’s public spending watchdog has revealed.

Stephen Boyle, the auditor-general, said there was no record of patients who drop off the waiting list to go private or who simply give up.

Humza Yousaf, the health secretary, said he was aware of “a small number of people” who had gone abroad for transplants, including one of his own constituents.

He admitted there was no way of knowing the scale of the issue, or whether the organs were obtained legally.

Boyle said: “I don’t wish to be blasé and say it is straightforward, but it really should not be an insurmountable problem to have a clear vision and strategy, reviewed and commented on, with an annual transparent plan to track progress.

“The government themselves don’t have the complete data we think they should have to make some of the decisions about the delivery of health and social care services and reform.”

Gillian Mackay, an SNP MSP, said some constituents told her that they have been put on a waiting list and “they hear nothing more about when they will be seen, or how they will be prioritised”.

Boyle said the NHS needs to “manage patients’ expectations about how long they will have to wait”.

He said: “Everybody who is waiting for services needs to have a clear expectation of when they will receive those services, whether it is [for] cancer, or other treatments on clinical prioritisation. There is clear missing part in transparency.”

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Source: The Times, 19 April 2022

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Surge in serious incidents caused by ambulance delays

Ambulance trusts are seeing rising numbers of serious incidents resulting from delays in reaching patients, research by HSJ has uncovered.

Serious incidents are defined by the NHS as a patient safety failure “where the consequences to patients, families and carers, staff or organisations are so significant or the potential for learning is so great, that a heightened level of response is justified.”

East Midlands Ambulance Service Trust saw 71 serious incidents in 2021-22 compared with 38 in the financial year before. The trust’s board papers attribute the increase in SIs related to delayed responses since June 2021 to “sustained pressure on the service” and the resulting growing handover times at accident and emergency departments. Of 14 SIs reported in February and the first half of March 2022, seven were due to “prolonged waits for an ambulance response”.

West Midlands University Ambulance Service Foundation Trust has also seen an increase in SIs. Its board papers report that half of the SIs are due to “delays in reaching patients resulting in harm, serious harm, and deaths”. It has given the issue of “hospitals, breaches, delays and turnaround times” the maximum rating of 25 on its risk register.

Long delays – especially for category two patients, where average performance last month was above an hour – are causing increasing concern. Stroke Association chief executive Juliet Bouverie said the organisation was hearing “shocking accounts from stroke survivors who have waited hours for an ambulance… We are extremely worried that stroke survivors’ lives and recoveries are being put at extreme risk.”

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Source: HSJ, 20 April 2022

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Covid-19: US sees increase in sexually transmitted diseases and teen drug overdose deaths

The prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and deaths from drug overdoses increased in the US over the past two years, showing the pandemic’s effect on public health.

“Even in the face of a pandemic, 2.4 million cases of chlamydia, gonorrhoea, and syphilis were reported,” the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said.

STDs declined during the early months of the pandemic in 2020 but then increased rapidly. Cases of gonorrhoea increased by 10% during 2020 compared with 2019. Cases of primary and secondary syphilis increased by 7% and congenital syphilis in newborns increased by 13%.2 New data suggest that primary and secondary syphilis—the most infectious stages of the disease—continued to increase during 2021, the CDC said. 

Jonathan Mermin, director of CDC’s national centre for HIV, viral hepatitis, STD, and tuberculosis prevention, said, “The unrelenting momentum of the STD epidemic continued even as prevention services were disrupted.” His colleague, Leandro Mena, director of CDC’s division of STD prevention, said, “The pandemic increased awareness of a reality we’ve long known about STDs. Social and economic factors—such as poverty and health insurance status—create barriers, increase health risks, and often result in worse health outcomes for some people.”

Another disturbing trend during the pandemic has been the increase of deaths from drug overdoses, especially among teenagers. Just over 100 000 Americans died of drug overdoses during the year to April 2021, according to the CDC’s national centre for health statistics—an increase of 28.5% from the previous year.

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Source: BMJ, 19 August 2022

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Hospital admits negligence over failings leading to baby’s sepsis death

A hospital has admitted clinical negligence over maternity care failings that led to the potentially avoidable death of a 10-day-old baby, The Independent has learned.

Kingsley Olasupo and his twin sister Princess were born on 8 April 2019 at Royal Bolton Hospital. Kingsley died 10 days later following a catalogue of mistakes, which included failing to screen him for sepsis.

Kingsley and his sister were born premature at 35 weeks. Three days later he was admitted to the special care unit due to a low temperature and “poor” feeding.

Despite being reviewed by two doctors he was not screened for an infection and not given antibiotics.

His condition deteriorated and on 12 April he was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis and sepsis. Days later scans revealed he had severe brain damage and would not survive.

Kingsley’s family said they had been “torn apart” by their son’s death and had pursued the trust to ensure a full independent investigation was carried out and lessons learnt.

BFT launched an investigation into Kingsley’s care after Mr Olasupo and Ms Daley raised concerns over their son’s death.

According to the trust’s investigation report, seen by The Independent, failings in care included that Kingsley was not screened for sepsis despite several “red flags”. Had this been done he would have been given antibiotics.

When midwives first escalated concerns to the neonatal team no physical medical review of Kingsley took place.

The investigation also found neonatal staff did not carry out daily reviews, and reviews that were done were incomplete and contained “inaccurate” and “misleading” information.

Other failings included:

  • “Ineffective” assessment of Kingsley’s wellbeing on the postnatal ward
  • Poor communication between staff and poor handover processes
  • No consideration was given to the fact Kingsley was not feeding well
  • Inadequate recording of observations.

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Source: The Independent, 20 April 2022

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Hepatitis cases detected in children in Europe and the US

Health officials say they are now investigating unexplained cases of hepatitis in children in four European countries and the US.

Cases of hepatitis, or liver inflammation, have been reported in Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain and the US, health officials say.

Last week UK health authorities said they had detected higher than usual cases of the infection among children. The cause of the infections is not yet known.

The European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC) did not specify how many cases have been found in the four European countries in total.

But the World Health Organization (WHO) said less than five had been found in Ireland, and three had been found in Spain. It added that the detection of more cases in the coming days was likely.

Investigations into the cause of the infections are ongoing in all of the European countries where cases have been reported, said the ECDC.

In the US, Alabama's public health department said nine cases have been found in children aged one to six years old, with two needing liver transplants.

Investigations into similar cases in other states are taking place, it added.

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Source: BBC News, 20 April 2022

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Pregnant women 'afterthought' in Covid jab rollout

Pregnant women have been an "afterthought" during the coronavirus pandemic and some of their deaths were "preventable", a leading scientist has told Newsnight.

Data shows there have been at least 40 maternal deaths from Covid in the UK. Almost all were unvaccinated and more than half happened after pregnant women were advised to take-up the vaccine.

The regulator says vaccines during pregnancy are "safe".

Professor Marian Knight, who investigates every maternal death in the UK, said lifesaving messaging is still "struggling" to reach pregnant women, a year on since all of them were advised to get vaccinated.

Professor Knight said: "This has perhaps been the first year where my job has made me cry because that was a preventable situation."

During the first months of the vaccine rollout, only pregnant health or care workers or those in at-risk groups were advised by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation to "consider" the jab due to a "lack of evidence".

In April 2021, the advice was updated to cover all pregnant women after real-world data raised no safety concerns.

By December 2021, a year after the rollout began, pregnant women were deemed to be more at risk of falling seriously ill from Covid and were put on the priority list for jabs.

Professor Knight, the maternal lead for pregnancy monitoring group MBRRACE-UK, said changing initial advice wasn't helpful, but stresses the JCVI had little choice because pregnant women were not included in Covid vaccine trials.

"It's a complicated message," she said. "The message 'don't get vaccinated because we haven't got any information' is very subtly different from 'don't get vaccinated because it's not safe'. You may think, 'I can't get vaccinated because I'm pregnant, it must not be safe'. Whereas actually we don't yet have enough information."

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Source: BBC News, 20 April 2022

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Pregnant women should be tested for Group B Strep to save babies’ lives, say campaigners

Pregnant women should be tested for Group B Strep to save the lives of dozens of babies every year, campaigners have warned.

Group B Strep is the most recurrent cause of life-threatening illness in newborn babies, with an average of two babies a day identified with the infection. Each week, one of these babies goes on to die while another develops an ongoing long-term disability.

More than one in five women carry Group B Strep, a common bacteria that normally causes no harm and no symptoms. However, its presence in the vagina or rectum means babies can be exposed to it during labour and birth.

Pregnant women in Britain are not routinely tested for its presence, but a trial led by the University of Nottingham is examining whether such a move would be effective. Campaigners have called for more hospitals to join the pilot to ensure it is successful.

Jane Plumb, chief executive of campaign group Group B Strep Support, said: “It’s taken over 20 years of campaigning to get this trial commissioned. It’s devastating that only 30 of the 80 hospitals needed have signed up. We can’t let this trial fail.

“We need to fight for the 800 babies per year that are infected with this too-often-deadly infection. We need more hospitals to take part. We need to rally together and get this trial over the finish line.”

Ms Plumb said the majority of Group B Strep infections in babies are preventable.

“If we don’t know, then they can’t be offered the protective antibiotics in labour,” she said. “Families so often tell us that the first time they hear of Group B Strep is after their baby falls ill. For a mostly preventable infection, this is unforgivable – and must change.

“We want to encourage every hospital to take part. We need people to ask for their MP’s support. This is an opportunity to save so many babies’ lives, but we only have six months to get hospitals on board. It really is now or never.”

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Source: The Independent, 19 April 2022

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Major scaling back of infection control measures announced

A significant relaxation of infection control guidance has been announced in a bid to free up more capacity to tackle substantial waiting lists and demand for emergency care.

New guidance issued jointly by the Department of Heath and Social Care, the UK Health Security Agency, NHS England and health bodies in the devolved nations, recommends the relaxation of isolation requirements for inpatients who either test positive for Covid-19 or are considered close contacts of people with the virus.

The isolation period for inpatients with Covid-19 can now be reduced from 10 days to seven if they have two negative lateral flow tests. The tests must be taken on two consecutive days from day six of the isolation period onwards, and the patient must also “[show] clinical improvement”.

A letter from NHSE released to trust chiefs, sent last Thursday, also recommends the “[return] of pre-pandemic physical distancing in all areas,” including emergency departments, ambulances and “all primary care, inpatient and outpatient settings.”

It also recommends the returning to pre-pandemic cleaning procedures outside Covid-19 areas.

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Source: HSJ, 19 April 2022

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Disruption to diabetes care during Covid threatens thousands, charity warns

Thousands of lives are being put at risk due to delays and disruption in diabetes care, according to a damning report that warns patients have been “pushed to the back of the queue” during the Covid-19 pandemic.

There are 4.9 million people living with diabetes in the UK, and almost half had difficulties managing their condition last year, according to a survey of 10,000 patients by the charity Diabetes UK.

More than 60% of them attributed this partly to a lack of access to healthcare, which can prevent serious illness and early mortality from the cardiovascular complications of diabetes, rising to 71% in the most deprived areas of the country.

One in three had no contact with healthcare professionals about their diabetes in 2021, while one in six have still not had contact since before the pandemic, the report by the charity said. 

Diabetes UK said that while ministers have focused on tackling the elective surgery backlog, diabetes patients have lost out as a result, and there is now an urgent need to get services back on track before lives are “needlessly lost”.

Chris Askew, the chief executive of Diabetes UK, called for a national diabetes recovery plan. “Diabetes is serious and living with it can be relentless,” he said. “If people with diabetes cannot receive the care they need, they can risk devastating, life-altering complications and, sadly, early death.

“We know the NHS has worked tirelessly to keep us safe throughout the pandemic, but the impacts on care for people living with diabetes have been vast. While the UK government has been focused on cutting waiting lists for operations and other planned care, people with diabetes have been pushed to the back of the queue.”

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Source: The Guardian, 20 April 2022

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Thousands of long Covid patients feared to be missing out on disability benefits

Thousands of people unable to work because of the effects of Long Covid are feared to be missing out on financial support, with patients struggling to access and apply for the government’s disability benefits scheme.

More than 300,000 people in the UK have been left with debilitating, persistent symptoms after catching the virus – but figures show only a tiny fraction of these have successfully claimed benefits.

Politicians and campaign groups warn not enough has been done to remove barriers to applying for financial aid.

“A vast number of severely impaired people are simply not getting the help they need and are entitled to,” said Dr Jo House, a spokesperson for Long Covid Support, which has around 50,000 members, the majority of whom are in the UK.

Jenny Ceolta-Smith, of Long Covid Support’s employment group, said there were “multiple barriers in place” when applying for the disability benefit.

She said the assessment process failed to take into account the episodic and fluctuating nature of the condition. “They might be able to perform a one-off activity, but then not do so later in the day,” she said.

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Source: The Independent,19 April 2022

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Volunteers to use ambulance cars to transport patients to hospital

Volunteers will transport patients who need extra assistance to hospital to increase ambulance availability for higher-risk patients.

The pilot scheme, using ambulance cars, is due to start in London in May.

London Ambulance Service said the trained volunteers would be sent to lower category 999 calls where the patient needed help to get to hospital.

The service's board meeting was told the scheme would reduce waiting times and increase ambulance availability.

Currently, taxis are used to transport "low acuity patients" to hospital, the meeting heard.

But there were some patients who required "the assistance of one person to walk or mobilise", which taxis could not provide.

"This results in the dispatch of an emergency ambulance, reducing ambulance availability for higher priority incidents and longer waiting times for patients," the meeting heard. As part of the pilot scheme, a volunteer car would be dispatched to these patients.

A spokesperson for the service said: "This project builds on our well-established network of volunteers who respond to emergencies to help ensure our ambulances can reach the patients that need us the most.

"These fully trained volunteers, who already respond to 999 calls in their communities, will help patients who have been assessed not to need of an ambulance but who may need more support than a taxi can provide."

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Source: BBC News, 18 April 2022

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